Jonathon Gruenke | Kalamazoo GazetteMichigan State sophomore Jared Hook slides into third base during the second inning of Tuesday's game at Western Michigan. MSU fell to the Broncos, 10-4, despite Hook's 2-for-5 effort at the plate.

KALAMAZOO — When Tony Wieber hit a rocket off Western Michigan University pitcher Chris Bossenbery's left foot Tuesday at Robert J. Bobb Stadium, the ball ricocheted into foul territory past the Michigan State dugout along the first-base line.

Jared Hook took it as his signal to turn on the “jets.” The Spartans' sophomore designated hitter, who truthfully is not fleet of foot, rounded second base and started digging for third without hesitation.

“We get on him all the time because he runs like a hockey player,” MSU coach Jake Boss joked about Hook, who not so long ago starred on the Portage Central High School hockey team.

Hook, who two years ago “totally blew out” his right knee, safely reached his third-base destination with a head-first slide. Two batters later, he scored the first run of the game.

WMU took down the Spartans for the second time in seven days, 10-4, but it wasn't for a lack of production from Hook, who went 2-for-5 from the No. 5 spot. The baserunning sequence pretty much sums up Hook's early career at MSU. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder has overcome some things — like the limited opportunities early and lack of speed, not helped at all by a rebuilt right wheel — and made the most of his chances.

“Yeah,” he smiled, “I'm known as 'Turtle' on the team. I'm not known for speed, so sometimes when I can take the extra base, I've got to take advantage and do it. Like (Tuesday), when I took first-to-third, I mean, I've got to take advantage because maybe a single up the middle, I might not score on it.

“Coach (Graham) Sikes and I have talked, 'You've got to cut corners, you know you're not the fastest guy ever.' Whenever I get the opportunity to take a bag, you know, I've got to do it. … Ball-in-dirt reads, it's a big thing for me because I'm not going to steal bases.”

Hook is running with it, so to speak, after redshirting in 2009 and getting only one at-bat last year. From the middle of the Spartans' order, he has used his smooth, left-handed swing to produce a .346 (46-for-133) batting average with six doubles, one triple and 22 RBIs.

Above all else, the former Gazette player of the year and MHSBCA Dream Teamer is contributing for a 30-15 team that carries a two-game lead atop the Big Ten Conference standings with two weekends remaining in the regular season.

“It's an amazing feeling, especially to be with the high-profile guys that we have on our team — you know, Ryan Jones, Jeff Holm, Brandon Eckerle, Torsten Boss, they're some of the top names in the Big Ten,” Hook said of the guys who occupy the top four spots in the Spartans' lineup, although not in that particular order.

Jake Boss, the Spartans' third-year head coach, is pleased with the way Hook has come along.

Jake Boss

“His first year, he got hurt and then last year there just wasn't really an opportunity for him. I felt bad about it because I've seen the kid hit in high school and you know he can hit, and the lineup that we had, the guys that we had, it didn't provide an opportunity for him,” Boss said.

“He finally got it this year and we thought that when he would get consistent at-bats, you'd see the results and that's what he's doing. The kid can just flat-out hit. I mean, he really can hit. He's stuck in our DH spot right now and we've got a pretty good first baseman (Holm) right now, and I'd like him to improve a little bit more defensively with some range and things like that. … He can hit and that's why he's hitting in the middle of the order. He's been very successful and we're going to need him to be in the future.”

That Hook has a future is somewhat fortunate. Two seasons ago, he planted to throw on a turf surface and his knee gave out.

Jared Hook

“Everything (was damaged) but my LCL and PCL," said Hook, the son of Robin Hook, who is WMU's assistant athletic director of broadcast media and corporate sales. "It was my MCL, ACL, both meniscus and a partially torn LCL. It was pretty bad."

It's finally in his rear-view mirror. Spending last summer with the Southern Ohio Copperheads (Athens, Ohio) of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League allowed him to see live pitching and get back into it.

“Coach has given me the opportunity, and like he says, when people get opportunities they have to take advantage of them and I feel like I have,” Hook said. “I feel like I started getting in the groove with the bat, and that's my strong point. I mean, I have to get better fielding-wise, but I feel like I'm getting consistent at-bats and I think it's good for me.”